C363 – Advice on the First Slave
Posted on May 27, 2019 by AzureOrchid92
For some things, the old man might not say much since he cared for few, but the “thousand gold grains” was one of those he cared about. In the old man’s heart, it still has a large proportion, and those who knew that he worked hard a lot for it, even running all the way to this desolate land to find it, should know.
If Shao Xuan bargained again, regardless of what others would say and even if he had to directly fight him, the old man would rather die than agree. A thousand grains was his last concession.
“I said I would compensate it with something else, but I don’t have much on hand right now so I can’t give it to you yet. In this way, if you have time in the future, go to King City, give them my name and I will give it to you there.” The old man said, handing Shao Xuan a crooked little bronze knife shaped like a smaller sickle. “This is for you. If you go to King City, you can take this out and someone would take you to me.”
King City?
Shao Xuan raised his head from looking at the knife, to look at the old man. “What is your full name?”
“This old man is called Ji Ju!”
Ji? Shao Xuan heard that that was the name of the king of King City, a city of aristocratic slave owners. Many of the surnamed Ji now has the most slaves among the slave owners, and the surnamed Ji in King City were also transforming the former tribes to slaves. Later, the five largest tribes also gathered there, and took the “Ji” as the name of their people.
Long ago, in this land, tribesmen discovered another way to use the fire. With this, some tribesmen become slave owners, building city-states, while others still maintained a tribe.
“Have you always enslaved a lot of slaves?” Shao Xuan asked as he put the fine grains that Ji Ju handed over in his animal skin bag.
Since he’s one of the slave owners with the largest lands, there should be quite a few slaves working under them. However, Ji Ju’s answer was not so. “There are many slaves under me, after all, I have more land and it has to be taken care of. However, the slave I have personally enslaved is only one.” Ji Ju said with pride on his face.
Ordinary slaves and personally enslaved slaves have the same distinctions between them as beasts and engraved beasts raised in the Flaming Horns tribe. It depended on the degree of closeness. Shao Xuan had heard about this in his travels, so there was not much surprise about this. However, it surprised him that Ji Ju only enslaved one.
“That must have been a powerful slave.” Shao Xuan said.
“Naturally, Kitochi is a very good slave. He can help me take care of my fields.” Speaking of that, Old Ju had some thought of his slave.
“Kitochi? How could a person have such a name?” Shao Xuan asked.
“This is a very good name. I gave it myself!” When Shao Xuan questioned it, Old Ju’s face showed that he disagrees. “And who says Kitochi is human?”
“Then what is it?” Shao Xuan was curious of a slave owner of this age only having one slave on hand, moreover, the only slave was not actually human.
Old Ju looked proud of it. “Moo—”
Shao Xuan: “…Moo? A cow, huh?”
“Yes! Don’t you think this slave is particularly good?! It was when it was still little when I enslaved it, and I had a large field in my hands that was in its care.” Old Ju had a big smile on his face.
“I’ll see it when I have the chance.” Shao Xuan said.
As he talked about his own beloved slave, the old man’s depressed state disappeared. His eyes lit up like a torch and the smile on his face did not diminish. His attention shifted from the thousand gold grains to his own slave, and old Ju said a lot.
“I tell you, Shao Xuan, if you want to enslave slaves in the future, you must pay attention to your first slave. That’s because the first slave will most likely be the most loyal one, and would also have the closest connection with your consciousness. Even if the other slaves were better, it will always be closer and this is a commonality in slavery. So we, slave owners were very cautious in choosing our first slave. Some were not even able to enslave slaves until middle age because they could not find a satisfactory first slave.” Old Ju also mentioned the topic on slavery, seeing as Shao Xuan had helped him so much. Additionally, because of him, he found what he suspected was the thousand gold grains, hence, he was in a good mood and adviced Shao Xuan.
“Of course, many of the tribesmen may not be able to be slave owners. You people don’t have much interest in enslaving slaves either. Besides, it’s unlikely for most to succeed, and not many have the knack of mastering it.” Old Ju said.
Hearing the old man’s words, Shao Xuan had an eccentric expression on his face. “The first slave is very important?”
“Extremely important!” Old Ju was adamant about it.
“From thousands and thousands of picks?” Shao Xuan asked again.
“That’s best.”
“Can’t just enslave anybody?”
“It’s not something to mess around!”
Old Ju continued to advice Shao Xuan. “How can one just enslave at will?! Once, when our ancestors did not know that the first enslaved slave was the most special, they did not pay attention to it so much that there were more betrayal from slaves. The enslavement of slaves resulted to their own characteristics and strengths which became scattered, hence, they were not loyal enough. The connection to the owner’s consciousness was not tight enough. Therefore, they learned that their own slave were more special, especially the first slave.”
Knowing the situation on this side and its difference with the desert on the other side, Shao Xuan did not ask more, just thought of his first slave… He did not mean to talk to old Ju about it. He had actually enslaved before and his first was a dung beetle, just to casually test out his power.
No wonder the blue beetle was so loyal. Shao Xuan could clearly feel the beetle’s current state as of now. Although it could not know what it was doing now, he was sure that Sapphire was now living well, getting stronger and stronger, so he did not need to worry about it.
Half way through it, old Ju realized that tribesmen had neve really been interested in slavery. That many tribesmen were generally more exclusive, especially those from the great tribes. That even finding a companion from a foreign tribe was said to require repeated scrutiny by the tribesmen. That the review would not necessarily be accepted immediately.
“You tribesmen are just full of it. Anyway, which tribe are you from?” Old Ju has been forgetting to ask Shao Xuan this question.
“The Flaming Horns tribe.” Shao Xuan replied. On the way to accompany old Ju on this journey, he listened to the old man about his opinion on some tribal stuff. One of which he mentioned was the Flaming Horns, but he did not have much to say about them. He was not hostile to them, just not having a very good impression. In any case, Shao Xuan was very happy when he heard old Ju mention the Flaming Horns tribe.
“Which one?!” When he heard Shao Xuan’s answer, old Ju wished to dig out his ears.
“Flaming Horns.” Shao Xuan repeated.
“……Give me back the thousand gold grains!” Old Ju reached out to grab it. “Aren’t you people hunters? How can you take good care of these thousand gold grains?!”
Although the people of the Flaming Horns tribe go to the King City even less, visiting one or two times would make people remember them. In the old man’s impression, the Flaming Horns were strong, that a person could carry a few bears while tossing them around to play. However, their characters were rude and violent, that their every return to the city would always make a few aristocrats angry. They were already banned by six aristocrats. However, these past years, the Flaming Horns tribe did come out a lot. Old Ju once saw the people of the tribe when he was young, and now, the younger generation may not have seen them ever.
“We, the Flaming Horns tribe can also farm on our land!” Shao Xuan argued. The history of the tribe also recorded a lot on planting. It was impossible that even in this place, they were not good.
“Can farm, my ass!”
Old Ju felt regretful now, but unfortunately, he had already decided to give out the grains. Even if he wanted to retrieve it, it would not be returned.
When his attempts were fruitless, Old Ju finally gave up. Fortunately, his current focus was not here. He has to hurry back, then bring those thousand gold grains back to his people. King City was not even close to here.
Soon, old Ju would have to go to one direction while Shao Xuan to another.
“By the way, do you remember where the Flaming Horns tribe is?” Shao Xuan asked before they separated.
“Why, are you lost?” Old Ju laughed, but he really did not know the specific location of the Flaming Horns tribe. “I only know that they should be in the depths of the mountains, from here, it should be a little farther away. You should find them yourself.”
Sapphire is still the best! (′^ω^`)